


if you can't come to us, we'll come to you

by fricklefracklefloof



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Yearning, blue just misses her boys :(, i tagged it as bluesey but it's really not a bluesey fic it's a gangsey fic, kind of, pynch if you squint - Freeform, this is a tad bit cheesy i'm sorry in advance, why do i always happen to write trc fics in blue pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27572305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fricklefracklefloof/pseuds/fricklefracklefloof
Summary: Blue is grounded from seeing her friends. Luckily, they find creative ways to circumvent her punishment.
Relationships: Adam Parrish & Blue Sargent, Henry Cheng & Blue Sargent, Noah Czerny & Blue Sargent, Richard Gansey III/Blue Sargent, Ronan Lynch & Blue Sargent
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	if you can't come to us, we'll come to you

**Author's Note:**

> i really don't write a lot of trc fics huh,,,, hopefully this will change that. i love one (1) friendgroup

Blue was grounded.

Specifically, grounded from seeing friends. Friends, in this case, being her raven boys.

Her mother didn’t normally do punishments; it was against her style of parenting, and Blue agreed. But apparently this year all that had been thrown out the door once Blue met Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah.

A lot of things had changed after meeting them.

Specifically, in this case, Blue’s habits of staying out. It hadn’t seemed like much of a problem at first, but after the five of them had visited Cabeswater and stayed there much longer than anticipated (Blue came home at almost 5 AM and ended up skipping school), Maura decided it was time to crack down on her raven boy trips.

The worst part was that everyone else was in on it, too. Blue had been ready to disobey her mother, but Orla volunteered to monitor the phone constantly so no raven boys would try to call her, and though Blue was permitted to go to school and work her family members timed her to ensure she wasn’t out for too long hanging out with the wrong people. Once again, Blue felt babied, and she didn’t like it.

She hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell Gansey and the others. They wouldn’t go searching for Glendower without her, and she knew that Gansey would be frustrated at the time they would be losing. This was one of those times where Blue guiltily longed for a mobile phone of her own. But then again, if she was being grounded, her mom likely would have taken that away from her, too.

This week was going to be positively miserable. Blue was just going to have to deal with it.

\---

“Blue’s late,” Ronan observed as they all sat outside Monmouth Manufacturing. It was growing hotter as the Virginia afternoon dragged on, and though the Pig didn’t provide much air conditioning, it was better than being out under the beating sun.

“Do you think she’s alright?” Gansey asked, concerned.

Adam struggled to keep his eyes open. He hated waiting around like this when he could be doing homework. “Her mom seemed pretty upset the other day,” he supplied.

“I can call her?” Gansey suggested.

Adam and Ronan shrugged. Noah, looking like more of a mirage than a human boy, nodded.

Gansey called Fox Way, the phone number ingrained into his mind out of habit.

To his disappointment, he heard Orla’s cheery voice on the other end.

“300 Fox Way, how can I help y—”

“Is Blue there?” Gansey asked, then cursed himself for interrupting. But he didn’t feel like being very polite with Orla.

“Yes.”

There was a pause. Gansey assumed she was going to get Blue, but when he listened for Orla calling for her, he heard nothing but breathing.

“Can you—Can you get her for me?”

“No.”

She hung up.

“Well?” Ronan asked.

“Orla won’t let me talk to her.”

Ronan scoffed. “Of course.”

“So what do we do now?” Adam asked.

“Blue’s obviously in trouble,” Gansey began. “And we can’t do anything without her. It just wouldn’t feel right.” It also probably wouldn’t work. Blue’s powers and psychic knowledge were vital for their Glendower search. Gansey had never met a girl like her.

“Dude, how do you know that?” Ronan accused. “Blue’s not in trouble. She’s probably just…”

He trailed off. They all knew it wasn’t like Blue to be this late. She usually tried everything she could to make sure she was able to accompany her friends on adventures.

“For now, we assume she’s in trouble with her family,” Gansey decided, sparing Ronan the embarrassment. He pointed to Adam. “Like you said, Maura was upset the other day when Blue kept leaving for hours without notice. We need to do something. We need to help her.”

“Do what?” Ronan asked. “We can’t just break her out of the house. Those women will eat us alive.”

“She’ll be fine,” Adam mumbled.

“We can try to help her,” Gansey suggested. “We don’t know how long she’ll be grounded. She could be bored out of her mind for weeks. We could try to meet with her, plot out what we’ll do next in our search.”

“I like that,” Noah said softly, the second thing he had spoken today. 

“Okay, fine,” Ronan conceded. If Noah was in, then he was in, though Gansey knew he’d agree either way.

“Alright,” Adam said, begrudgingly, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Gansey grinned. “I have a plan.”

\---

On her first day of school while also being grounded, Blue woke up on time. No trips to magical sentient forests with her friends had kept her up the night before, to her disappointment.

As her eyes adjusted out of sleep, she realized something was in her room. Or wait, it hadn’t been in her room before, but it was now. It felt like it had always been there.

“Morning, Blue!”

Blue screamed and stumbled out of bed. Noah was sitting on the edge, the outlines of his body almost fading into the background, but visible enough. 

“Noah! What the hell! I haven’t even changed yet!”

“Oh, sorry,” he giggled, as if he hadn’t even considered the fact that maybe it was _way too early_ and also _how was he in her room._ He flickered out of existence.

For all Blue knew, he could be lurking invisibly around her room, but she supposed she would trust him and got changed.

No invisible Noahs bothered her as she got ready for school, though, much to Blue’s relief. She took her shower and ate her yogurt in peace before heading out the door.

Noah manifested on the sidewalk in front of her as she was on her way to school.

“So how’s being grounded like?”

Blue frowned. “How did you know I was grounded?”

Noah shrugged. “Adam said your mom was mad earlier. You didn’t come to meet us on Saturday.” He reached out a tentative hand towards her head in a silent question, and Blue permitted him to touch her hair.

“Good amount of spiky today,” he commented. “I rate it ten out of ten.”

“Thanks, Noah,” Blue said with a smile. “I worked hard to get it that way.” She was glad he was here, honestly. It had only been a day or two, and she was already sick of everyone’s condescending comments about her being grounded back at home.

Noah followed her all the way to school, then disappeared when he saw just how many kids were there. Blue had expected that, though. Noah got nervous around too many new people, even if most of them couldn’t see him, and Blue couldn’t have him sapping up her energy all the time.

He reappeared in Blue’s second period in the middle of her math test, though. He wandered about the room and poked other students and rambled about goldfish and pretty much did anything to distract Blue, but it was entertaining, and she appreciated it. Besides, she was pretty sure she was going to fail that test anyways.

At lunch Noah joined Blue at her usual table alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t have anyone to sit with, but most of the time she preferred not to talk to anyone if she could help it.

“You’re eating yogurt _again?_ ” he complained.

Blue was quite offended. The yogurt she was eating had nuts in it. She didn’t particularly like the nuts, but they felt a little more nutritious and lunch-worthy. “What’s wrong with yogurt?”

“For _lunch?_ ” he asked, as if that hadn’t already been established. “If I were at school at lunch, I would eat… hmm.” He seemed to be giving this deep thought.

Why was he here, anyways? Not that Blue minded having Noah around at all. It just seemed strange, since it obviously took a lot of energy for him to be hanging around this long.

“Chicken!” Noah exclaimed. “Chicken sandwich.”

Whatever made him happy, she supposed.

\---

Noah wasn’t there when Blue woke up the next day, and she didn’t know why she expected him to be, but still, it was a little disappointing.

When she got to school, though, she noticed a small crowd near the front. Blue didn’t usually participate in student events, but she didn’t recall anything happening today, and she was curious.

She pushed past the students. Some were laughing, taking pictures. The audacity that some people had annoyed Blue beyond belief. But when she got to the front, even she couldn’t help but stare too.

Henry was gripping a sign among a mixture of Aglionby and Mountain View students. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was a raven boy, though even without the uniform Blue would have been to tell what kind of person he was, with his tall, perfectly styled dark hair and charismatic, rich-boy smile with all teeth.

Blue didn’t want to give away the fact that she knew a _raven_ boy, of all people, but she couldn’t help herself. “Henry?”

Henry looked up from his protest to flash that rich-boy smile at her. “Blue! Fancy meeting you here!”

People were already staring, but Blue had dug her grave, and so she had to lie in it. “What are you doing here?”

Henry gave her a look that made her almost regret asking. “I am happy to educate you! You see, dearest Blue, at Aglionby we are struggling with the undemocratic issue of a student council that is _not_ student-chosen! Our fight there is not over yet, but recently I was informed that _your_ school does not have a student-chosen student council either! I’m sure someone as interested in politics as you understands.” He gestured to the several Mountain View students holding signs of their own, and to Blue’s surprise she realized most of them seemed serious. Most of them. There was Niecy, Lo, Sammie, Aviva, Alex—oh, Alex was definitely there ironically.

“It definitely is a problem,” Blue agreed, though she wasn’t about to go and hold a sign with him. As annoyed as she was with Henry being here, it did make her day a lot better to see him. She had kind of missed him.

“Oh, and Gansey says hello, by the way,” Henry told her.

Blue flushed, and she tried not to make eye contact with anyone who was staring at her. Now they knew that she was friends with not one, but two raven boys. But it was good to hear from Gansey. It had been a while since they had last called, because Orla was somehow monitoring the phone even late at night. “Tell him I say hi back.”

Henry grinned. “I will.”

\---

School the next day was fairly uneventful. Blue wasn’t followed by any ghosts, wasn’t greeted by any raven boys protesting the school’s student council. It was a normal day.

And it was boring as hell. 

Still, Blue was able to get through the day, and when she got home her family was cheerily horrible to her as usual. Maura tried to be nice to her, but Blue wasn’t interested in being nice when she was literally grounded. It felt vaguely manipulative to her. So Blue left as soon as possible to go walk her dogs.

Work was a good excuse to get out of the house. Nino’s was arguably more infuriating than her family, but Blue enjoyed her dog walking business. She knew her neighborhood and all its animals better than her own neighbors.

When she reached the house of her first dog, though, Blue caught sight of someone standing on the sidewalk, obviously trying his best to look like he was waiting, rather than loitering. There was a bike lying on its side by the sidewalk.

“Adam?”

He looked up at her in surprise, visible guilt written across his face. “Blue, hey, I was just…”

“Were you trying to meet me here?” Blue interrupted.

“Yeah,” Adam admitted. 

Blue hadn’t really been alone with Adam since they had broken up. Things still felt a little awkward, but Blue had to admit she was pleasantly surprised to see him here. She’d begun to expect and look forward to her friends coincidentally meeting her places, but for some reason, she hadn’t expected Adam to show up. It was good to know he still cared about her. Blue felt a twinge of guilt, though; she still hadn’t told him and Ronan about what was going on between her and Gansey.

“How’d you know I was walking dogs here?” Blue asked, making her way to the back gate to pick up Creampuff. He was one of those generic little white dogs with dark residue around his eyes, but Blue liked him, for the most part. His owners were more of the problem, in her opinion.

“Someone told me you’d be here.” Blue gave him a look as she gathered up Creampuff’s leash. He had definitely been scrying.

Creampuff allowed Adam to give him a little pat on the head before they headed off together. It was a crisp fall afternoon, and Blue could feel a bit of the Virginia cold seeping into her clothes, but not enough to be unbearable. She loved this kind of weather.

They walked together without saying much, Creampuff’s panting filling up most of the silence. Blue remembered how much she liked Adam’s quietness. It was peaceful, somehow, in a way that wasn’t awkward. He never said anything that was unnecessary.

Creampuff was a smaller dog, and so they didn’t have to walk long until he decided he was pretty much done. As Blue closed the back gate where she’d left Creampuff, Adam said, “I didn’t come here for no reason, though.”

After what had happened this week, apparently seeing her was reason enough. But Blue didn’t object as Adam reached into his jacket pocket and fished out a small, simple box. “This is from Ronan.”

“Oh,” Blue said softly, unsure of how to react. “Thank you.” Again, she couldn’t help but be surprised. She hadn’t expected anything from Ronan, but of course it would be like him to pay his visit in the form of a gift. 

Of course, knowing him, it could be a joke. Inspecting the box, she found the words _“FOR THE MAGGOT”_ in Ronan’s hasty handwriting scrawled on the lid. Still, Blue couldn’t hide her smile. It was sweet of him to do this, and sweet of Adam to come all the way here to deliver it. She was sure he had work to do.

“It’s supposed to be scheduled to open at 7AM tomorrow morning,” Adam informed her. “If Ronan got everything right,” he added with a smile. 

Blue was impressed. Dreaming something of this complexity must have taken a lot of trial and error. Joke or not, she appreciated the sentiment even more.

“I’m assuming you don’t know what’s inside?” Blue asked.

Adam shrugged. “Nope. He wouldn’t tell me anything,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Anyways… I should probably go, I have work. Sorry I couldn’t stay longer.”

Him showing up at all was enough for Blue. “Don’t worry about it. Thank you,” she said again.

“Sure,” Adam said, with one of his elegant, quiet smiles. Blue watched as he picked up his bike and rode away.

\---

On Thursday morning, Blue woke up exactly on time, if not earlier. It was 6AM and practically dark outside, but she wanted to be ready for when the box opened.

She got ready for school as usual, keeping an eye on the box as she did. There was a possibility it wouldn’t open on time, or not at all, so five minutes before seven she sat cross-legged on her bed, the box between her hands, looking anxiously at the clock.

Blue wasn’t sure why she was so excited for it to open; maybe it was just the anticipation. But she wanted to be completely ready when it opened.

As it turned out, it wasn’t exact, but at 7:01 AM, Blue watched, her heart racing, as the lid of the box creaked slowly open with an unknown force that Blue couldn’t pinpoint.

A soft tune began to trickle out of the box, and Blue realized that it was actually a music box. It was surprisingly charming for Ronan’s work. Though, when she listened closely, she thought the melody sounded slightly familiar.

She put the pieces together too quickly. _Squash one, squash two…_

Blue slammed the lid shut.

Then immediately regretted it, because the box was still from Ronan, and he’d worked hard on it, and she didn’t know whether it would ever open again.

Thankfully, she opened it again with ease, and the music started over from the beginning. It seemed it was more designed to stay locked shut that first time, then unlocked at the desired time. The murder squash song actually sounded quite nice in music box form, despite its insufferable catchiness, though Blue would never admit that to Ronan.

The music wasn’t the only thing in the box. Reaching inside, Blue found a small pair of hairclips in an odd color she didn’t own. She smiled. These would definitely stand out.

Finally, just before Blue was going to close the box, she found a note at the bottom.

_“IT GLOWS IN THE DARK.”_

\---

Friday. Blue’s last day grounded before she was completely free. 

Her classes went by excruciatingly slow, and by lunch Blue felt the day would never be over. It took everything in her not to rush out of school and all the way back home.

“Excited for freedom soon?” Maura asked as Blue came home. Blue ignored her mother, moving over to the fridge and grabbing some yogurt. Fruit at the bottom. If Gansey was here, she would have given some to him.

She had a shift later at Nino’s, so Blue tried to keep herself occupied with a new dress she was working on. She wasn’t sure where she was going with it at first, just stitching random things together, but now she was attempting to make an outfit that complemented her new hairclips. Contrary to popular belief, Blue did put together outfits that matched. It was everyone else who thought what she wore clashed.

She was just about finished with it when Orla called her from the Phone/Sewing/Cat Room. “Blue! There’s someone on the phone for you!”

Confused, Blue hurried downstairs. “Who?” She wasn’t expecting any calls, and the raven boys were supposed to be banned from calling her.

Orla gave her an awful grin. “You’ll see.”

Blue put the phone to her ear.

“Jane!”

Just the sound of his voice made Blue’s heart skip a little. She cursed herself for the way her face heated. Orla was still right next to her.

“Gansey, I—how were you able to call me?” she stammered, gaze flicking back to Orla in a silent question. Her cousin just placed a silent finger to her lips. _Don’t tell._

“Oh, I just talked things out with Orla,” Gansey said vaguely. Blue didn’t want to know what that meant. If he had bribed her— “Anyways, how are you doing? It’s been a while.”

It really hadn’t, but it certainly felt like it. The only times Blue got to be with Gansey alone were their nightly phone calls and drives, and now she longed for even those scarce moments. 

“Alright,” Blue answered, trying to steady her still rapidly racing heart. She felt guilty just standing here in this room, as if Maura or any of her other family members could catch her at any moment.

Gansey prattled on as if it wasn’t a problem. “Did you get Ronan’s present? He had been worried all week that it wouldn’t work. Don’t tell him I said that, though.”

Blue smiled. “Yeah,” she said softly. “It worked perfectly. Tell him thank you.” She’d bring up the issue of the song choice later.

Blue could practically hear Gansey’s grin through the phone. She missed that genuine smile, not the fake one that he plastered on for others. It was warm, somehow. “Of course. Anyways, you have a shift at Nino’s tonight, right?”

Blue blinked. “Yeah. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

The line went dead.

“You owe me one,” Orla whispered as Blue handed the phone back to her.

“No, I don’t!” Blue huffed. Orla probably had plenty of money now to keep her happy. Trying to suppress the smile that was tugging at her cheeks again, she hurried back upstairs to get ready for work.

When she arrived at Nino’s, Blue already knew what she would see. 

“Jane! Glad you could make it!”

Five boys were crowded in their usual corner of the restaurant, laughing and sipping iced tea. Gansey, with that warm smile Blue had dreamed about all week, was waving her over from his booth, notebook open on the table.

She came running over to join them.


End file.
